But, They Didn't
by Lucillia
Summary: Instead of asking why Obito had joined Madara and was trying to destroy the world - Konoha included -, Kakashi is convinced he knows. Much to his mortification, Obito - who wants Kakashi to pay for what he did to Rin - has to convince his former teammate that his assumptions in the matter are badly mistaken before he can tell him the true reason.
1. Chapter 1

Kakashi stood there staring after Tobi's mask was shattered and Obito's scarred features were revealed. How could Obito of all people done this? Why would he do this? Why would Obito who had loved Konoha and its inhabitants...?

Oh gods...

_He'd gone to the candy store because Obito was late for their mission, and this was the first place he'd thought to look for the boy he didn't want to wait another minute for. Obito and the elderly man who owned and ran the small confectioner's came out of the back room. Obito's jacket was dirty and improperly fastened as it often was, and the boy looked rather sweaty as if he'd just recently had a long workout. The old man handed Obito a sizable bag of hard candy that had been sitting out on the counter._

_"You can come back and stock my shelves anytime boy." the old man said with a smile as he put his hand on Obito's shoulder._

It probably could have been regarded as innocent if that had been the only incident...

_He'd once again gone looking for Obito after he'd entirely failed to show for that day's training. As Obito came out of Orochimaru's house, the Sannin handed the boy a small cage that contained a pair of white mice._

_"What's this?" Obito asked._

_"Your reward for being such a...cooperative child." Orochimaru replied with a creepy smile as he put his hand on the boy's shoulder._

And, he'd been too wrapped up in his own issues to realize what had been happening back then, much less do anything about it. Because he hadn't helped the boy who had been willing to give his life to save him despite how poorly he'd treated him, this had happened...

* * *

Obito waited.

The look of shock that had been on Kakashi's face when he realized who he was made the pain of being Rasenganed in the face and the loss of his mask almost worth it. The shock turned to horror, and still he waited. Any second now, Kakashi would demand to know why he was doing this, and any second now he'd shove Kakashi's crime back in his face, Kakashi - who didn't deserve to be in the world he and Madara were creating - would know why he deserved to die, and would die knowing as he avenged Rin.

"I'm sorry Obito." Kakashi said when he finally found the words to speak. "I'm so sorry that I was so wrapped up in my own issues that I didn't even notice what was happening to you."

Well, that was...unexpected.

"If I'd known those men were molesting you..."

"Wait, **WHAT**?!"


	2. Chapter 2

Those who knew Obito in his youth would have described him as cheerful, naive, and exceedingly helpful. The boy had been known to give anyone in need of assistance a helping hand, be it the little old lady who needed to lug heavy groceries several blocks, or the cat that climbed up a tree and couldn't climb back down again. Many who saw this side of the child would have believed him easily taken advantage of.

The thing was, Obito was enough of a ninja to be able to tell the difference between a genuine need for help, and the sort of person who was asking for help in order to lure him into their home for some drinks and a little game of hide the sausage. More often than not, the boy would err on the side of caution, and would keep a mental list of "likelies".

About the only time his Pedo-radar had seemed to malfunction aside from the time that Orochimaru had asked him to participate in human trials for an experimental vaccine had been when he encountered Madara. He could be excused for this however, because Madara bore a strong resemblance to a rather creepy great-uncle that he'd been told on no uncertain terms to stay the hell away from, and the man who'd been trapped in a cave for decades without human company had been giving off mixed signals like crazy.

As it was - due to his being taught by his father how to avoid the sort of strangers that gave strangers a bad name early on - the closest thing to molestation that Obito had experienced had been the time that Kushina had buried his face in her cleavage while giving him a rather enthusiastic hug, and the only trauma he'd suffered from that had been when his father had walked in on him the next evening.

How or why Kakashi had gotten the idea that he'd been molested when he'd been very careful to avoid such things, he didn't know...

* * *

While Obito stood there staring in stupefied shock as he tried to process Kakashi's last statement, too startled and confused to attack, Kakashi stood there wondering whether or not it was too late to call in a rape crisis counselor. Gai was technically qualified as such, but wasn't allowed to practice because those who'd called into Konoha's crisis hotline during the three weeks he'd volunteered had often found dealing with him as traumatizing as the attack itself if not moreso.

Beside him, Gai had tears streaming down his face as he wept over the fact that his poor "Youthful friend" had suffered in silence while nobody reached out to help him. Of course, sadness over his friend's plight very quickly became resolve, much as it often did with Maito Gai.

"Yosh!" Gai yelled, breaking the silence that had fallen upon the fighters. "If I cannot heal Obito from this horrible trauma, I shall leave the ninja forces forever and devote my life to charity work!"


	3. Chapter 3

When Madara had finished dealing with the Hokages and turned up to see how Obito was doing, it was to find the younger man being unwillingly enveloped in what looked like a group hug. Had the young man not looked as if he'd dearly love to strip the flesh from the bones of the three men who were hugging him, he probably would have given him up as a traitor to the cause and dealt with him accordingly. Obito turning traitor wasn't that far fetched since the man had dearly cared for his comrades before, and as two of the three individuals that were hugging the stuffing out of the young Uchiha were comrades and the third belonged to Obito's home village...

"What happened here?" he asked, taking in the bizarre scene that he'd arrived in in the middle of instead of the fight he'd been expecting.

"They seem to think I was molested for some reason." Obito replied as he kicked his dropped fan towards him. He would be having words with the brat about that later, but he would let it slide for now since they needed to put up a united front.

"What's the big deal? So was I, and I turned out just fine." he replied as he picked up his beloved fan which he would be using to beat the shit out of Obito after they won.

_Thank you very much Obito, _he mentally snarled. _It's the day of our great triumph, the day that all plans come to fruition, the day that I have to be completely focused on the world I'm going to create and you just had to make me remember what uncle Hiro did that one time he'd gotten too drunk to see straight and mistook me for a teenage girl._

As he was in the middle of imagining exactly what he was going to do to Obito and his former comrades, he felt something wrap itself around his midsection. Looking down, he found himself looking into a pair of blue eyes that were looking straight back up into his without fear.

It was the Kyuubi Jinchuriki, and it was hugging him.

It was HUGGING him!

Nobody but nobody hugged him except Izuna. Izuna and, well...


End file.
